Pi Pizzeria

Pi is one of the very few pizzerias in Cincinnati to offer a deep dish pizza, but unfortunately, theirs is not a good rendition, and is expensive to boot
I realize that I am focused on replacing what was for me a 5-​star pizza — the deep dish pizza at recently-​shuttered Romeos Pizza in Hyde Park — and so I have higher expectations than I probably should, but this pizza suffered on taste, texture, size, and price. Strike 4, and you’re out, right?
Strike 1: taste. The sauce was the one plus. It was very good, with pronounced tomato and herbs flavor enhanced by the sprinkling of dried italian herbs as a finish over the top of the pie. But there was relatively little of it, just barely more than you’d get on a thin crust pie, and this style of pizza demands a lot of sauce. Further, the crust added nothing to the flavor, nor did the cheese, nor the sausage I added as the single topping.
Strike 2: texture. The crust reminded me of a biscuit I had left in the oven several minutes too long and then left out in the open for a weekend. Dried, crusty, hard and yet crumbly all at once. No glutenous pliancy whatsoever.
Strike 3: Size. A deep dish pizza should be very filling because of how much stuf is loaded into it. It is supposed to be tall and thick and heavy. The only thing tall in the case of the pie I was given was the edge crust. The layer of cheese was thinner than on any other deep dish pie I had had elsewhere. Same with the sauce. The sausage topping I paid for was hard to even find — tiny pebbles I’d occasionally find, so small that I couldn’t taste them even when I pulled one out by itself.
Strike 4: Price. Many reviewers have already spoken to this. My 9 inch pie with one topping cost several dollars more than a two topping 12 inch pie weighing at least 3 pounds more from Romeos. This is not a good value by any stretch of the imagination. I realize that this is a full service restaurant with a bar, and so perhaps comparing it to Romeos is a bit unfair — particularly on price — but I don’t think this is a good value compared to other full service sit-​down spots like this either
Parking will cost you even more unless you arrive at 9pm or later, when downtown meters are free, if you can find one — this can be a chore considering this eatery shares the same block with Ruby’s

I was really excited to try this place for lunch. I was disappointed overall and don’t see myself returning. The service was fine but the food was just missing something. I had the Greek Green which was pretty tasty but huge for a «small salad». I split the Central West End and while not bad it wasn’t anything I would recommend. As an «appetizer» the table split the «garlic bread». I should have read the menu a little closer as this place’s garlic bread is essentially table bread, a herb spread, and a clove of roasted garlic that’s not tender enough to spread on top of the bread as intended. It was basically DIY garlic bread. Not worth the $ 6. Maybe this place is better suited for dinner but it missed the mark for lunch for sure.

Since my last review, the manager of Pi called me to discuss what happened during our visit. He told me about some of the changes they were making and gave us a coupon for a free pizza and a gift card. We haven’t been able to use them yet, but I am very glad action was taken after our experience.

Went there for the first time today for lunch. They had a pretty decent beer selection, maybe 20 or 25 beers on tap. There was no one in there for lunch so we sat at the bar. We tried one of their specialty deep dish pizzas and it was really good. I don’t think I’d put it on the same level as some authentic Chicago deep dish joints, but it was solid for cincinnati. The restaurant was very clean, food was good and atmosphere was about average for downtown. If you’re going to be downtown for an event, it’s not a bad spot to go– but I would never make a special trip there and have to pay for parking. My wife and I were out of there for around $ 50 (that includes tip). I had a beer and she had a fountain drink. We split a large caesar salad for an appetizer — it was around $ 10 and probably not worth quite that much.

While the pizza was delicious and came out as ordered, we had a rather unfortunate time here. Our party was on the larger side but had made reservations several days in advance and the restaurant was still not ready for us until 20 minutes past our set time.
After finally being sat we ordered and did not receive our food for over 45 minutes in some cases while others in our party waited over an hour for food. There were orders that came out incorrect, orders that came out cold, and an extremely long wait time between orders all at the same table.
While the wait staff did everything they could to try and was very courteous it was still a very difficult evening and meal. The quality of the food did not make up for the lack of attentiveness to the order or the lack of timeliness of the orders being brought out.
Our party appreciate the management covering the tab after nearly two hours of waiting for the food but it has lost customers from this point forward.

We got the deep dish, it was pretty tasty! (Nothing beats a deep dish from Chicago, though!) If you’re from out of town, thin crust = traditional/​regular crust. One of the few places actually open in downtown cincy past 9 AND we could bring the kids! would def visit again.

Went for pi day (³⁄₁₄) and had fun. They have a special deal where you buy one pizza and get the other for $ 3.14. Beers on tap were also $ 3.14. Overall fun atmosphere. We had a deep dish pizza that was half kirkwood and half south side Classico. The meatball one, kirkwood, was really flavorful. Tomato sauce is sweet and balances out the toppings and the cornmeal crust well. The crust is crunchy and did not get soggy even after reheating a day after. Thin crust pizza was crispy so that’s a plus too. They make good pizzas. We ordered the named pizzas but you can make your own for a reasonable price. Service was prompt and the wait staff was nice and attentive. Nice place to have a casual dinner downtown.

I think this place is great.
Been here maybe 5 times, enjoyed it every time.
Great beer selection and I like the over all feel of the place.
Pizza has never let us down.
Last visit we had a small for 2 people. Deep dish is the way to go.
Half Bucktown, half Western Addition. Both great, Western Addition maybe a little better.
Our server James was on top of things and very nice.
Will be back.

Started off with the kale-​ifornication salad. Was delish! Who knew kale could taste so good. A little too creamy with the salad dressing but yum otherwise. Next time I will ask them to put the dressing on the side.
Split the Bucktown with a friend. Ordered a small and there was enough for both of us with leftovers. It was a slice of pie heaven.
I will say the only negative was the waiter did not check in to refill our drinks.

The pizza here was amazing! I’ve never had a pizza quite like this one, and I’ve tried just about every pizza I could find here and every other state I’ve visited.
Can’t say I like the location our the decorations. It’s on a corner across from the federal building downtown, near the two main bus stops in the downtown area. The inside is so dark and drab like a steel cage the seats are definitely not comfortable. The location of the restrooms was weird too. Everyone kept trying to enter the kitchen area. The barroom is by the front door. You go in a room with a toilet depending in your gender, but you wash at the sink together. Freshening up is kind of weird with a man there. If they’d put up a really big restroom restroom sign, maybe with an arrow, it would save all the waiters a bunch of time. They have to run and stop people from entering the kitchen.
We were seated right away. The waiter answered all or questions and we found out that we could order a half and half pizza which was great! Our pizza took a really long time. I guess we could’ve ordered an appetizer to get something quicker, but knowing I was about to eat deep dish pizza I didn’t want anything else. If you’re hungry and you’ve got a group, you may want to order apps.
I saw a ton of thin pizza coming out with fresh spinach or basil leaves, I’m not sure which, covering the entire pizza. That was definitely not my choice. I got the deep dish chicken, feta, onion, artichoke, red onion, kalmata olives– The Bucktown/​The Hill was the other half. This pizza says outta a thin crust but any pizza can be made either way, deep our thin. The Hill had pepperoni, salami, green pepper, kalmata olives and onion. We ordered a large thinking we’d have leftovers, but no, we were pigs. It was so good we couldn’t stop eating it. Before we knew it we were fighting over the last two pieces, because even though the other side wasn’t what I ordered, it was just as good. I can’t wait to try some other kinds of pizzas. There are some really creative options or you can build it however you want. They do say no substitutions on the toppings for the specialty pizzas. I could probably eat there each and every day. They have lots of beers on tap and a huge bar. They tables are pretty close together. I felt like people were in my personal space. Maybe they’re just trying to bring the world closer together.

We went to Pi Pizzeria with friends before catching a show at the Aronoff. Upon a friend’s recommendation, hubby and I ordered a thick-​crusted Delmar Pizza with had both cheddar and mozzarella cheese with veggies, bbq sauce and roasted chicken. It was delicious! Our friends ordered the thin-​crusted Central West End and they let us try some. I’m usually a thick-​crust fan, but at least there I liked their thin-​crust better. My friend was somewhat disappointed that they left off the arugula from their pizza especially since that was one of the reasons she ordered it. They did bring out some raw arugula, but I’m sure that flavor would have been totally different if it had been baked with the other ingredients.
Now here is the shocker for me — I absolutely fell in love with their Kale-​ifornication salad!!! One of the best salads ever with baby kale & arugula, quinoa, roasted chickpeas, pickled red onion, almonds, tomato and buttermilk dressing. Because I really like pickled things, the pickled onion brought a lot of flavor to this dish and using the baby versions of the greens made the kale not bitter at all. Seriously, I would almost go back just for that. Another nice touch is that our waiter had a cocktail mixed for me. I know that I probably shouldn’t even try to order a drink because I don’t like beer, bourbon or whiskey, but he made a suggestion that worked well for me. We will definitely be back!

Pi doesn’t get 3.14 Unilocal Stars. They deserve nothing less than 5. To get to the point, Pi is AWESOME. They truly serve an outstanding pizza pie. I mean, whoa, we will be back soon, because this was carb-​and-​cheese bliss.
Cincinnati has no shortage of delicious pizza available in the area. I love Dewey’s for their delicious salads and ridiculously soft, tender, sweet crust. A Tavola serves up an amazing, smoky-​crisp stone hearth pizza. Via Vite, Newport Pizza Co., Jean-Paul’s, Buona Vita, Betta’s…all serve up a delicious pie.
But wow, we really, REALLY enjoyed the food at Pi. We came on a late Sunday afternoon after the UC vs. Tulane game. The place was fairly empty since we were there at an odd hour, but I appreciated that it was an open, airy, clean space. We were starving and ready to gorge ourselves on carbs. We brought a friend along with us, an enthusiastic repeat customer at Pi and trusted pizza aficionado.
Based on our friend’s recommendation, we started off with a five-​piece Pi-​Ravs appetizer. These looked and were very tasty: breaded and deep-​fried sausage/​cheese-​stuffed raviolis with a marinara dipping sauce. Of course, nothing earth-​shatteringly innovative here, but I don’t want pizza or the coinciding appetizers to be innovative — I want them to be deliciously cozy and familiar and comforting. The raviolis were the weakest link in the entire meal, because unless you dunked them in the marinara sauce (wonderful), they were quite bland. The filling needed a pinch of red pepper flakes… or a tangier cheese or garlicky flavor… or a more robust, fennel-​y sausage.
We also tried a platter of the Pi-​Squares — and ohmygoodness, these were FABULOUS! In-​between a cheese quiche and a fried cheese ball, our server explained that they were a creation of Pi’s chef, as a healthier alternative to arancini balls. These little guys, although baked rather than fried and packed with lean, mean, green kale, tasted anything but healthy. Seriously, between the four of us, we SPLIT the fifth and final square four ways because none of us were selfless enough to waive our secondary right to it.
We quickly discovered that the marinara sauce, which was served alongside our apps and on the pizzas, was wonderful — thick but pureed without chunks (thank goodness), sweet but tangy. And this sauce was the perfect complement to the most unique and delicious crust I have ever had. Although I ordered a thin-​crust veggie pizza (Pick Your Pi, topped with artichoke/​spinach/​pesto, one of my favorite pizzas ever), the crust was SOOO crunchy and flavorful, encrusted with cornmeal and shattering at first bite (while not being in the least bit messy or crumbly). I devoured almost the entire small pizza.
The rest of the group got The Hill in a deep-​dish cornmeal crust, half with Kalamata olives and the other half with roasted garlic (the roasted garlic was BOMBPUNTOCOM). I was too full from shoveling my own crispy personalized delight into my face to eat an entire wedge of The Hill. Nonetheless, I ate TWO of the deep-​dish crust edges left behind by my kiddo (seriously, how do you not eat the crust? The crust is the best part of the pizza!). This cornmeal crust is delectable. A thesaurus of adjectives could be devoted to that crunchy, golden, greaseless, tender, fluffy, compact, sturdy, tender crust (and apparently I’ve commenced writing it…). I ate the crust and marveled (yes, I marveled) at the very delicate, faintly onion-​y flavor that reminded me almost of a moist hushpuppy (squeal!). Yet, that golden cornmeal exterior was a CRUNCHMASTER, with no residual flour-​iness or parched crumbles flaking everywhere.
So for heaven’s sake. Please eat at Pi. You can sweat it out later at the gym or just pass out on your couch from a food-​induced coma for three hours like I did. It was awesome.

Great appetizers, great pizza, great service. Nice atmosphere. What more do you want? If you like deep dish pizza, this is the place for you.
We walked in and were seated promptly by the host (a young man.) Our server came by quickly with menus and waters, and offered to explain the menu and answer any questions. We said no we did not, we had already looked at the menu online. She told us the salad servings were generous, if we wanted to split an order. (Very nice to do that).
My wife had the kale salad, and I had the beer cheese soup. It’s hard to find it, even in Cincy, especially beer cheese soup as good as this was. It also came with a nice piece of pretzel for dipping. Yum. The kale salad was also excellent. The large salad would be a nice meal for a vegetarian, or a lunch. The toasted garbanzo beans were a nice touch; the red onions were soaked in a light dressing first, so they didn’t have that strong pungent flavor. (I pick red onions off every dish; the flavor is too strong and it ruins the dish. So these people knew what they were doing.) The salad dressing was nice and not over-​powering.
Our server reminded us we could do a ½ and ½ pizza, so we did half «South side Classico» and half «West Sider». Both we good; I preferred the former, my wife the latter. We got a small, and it was enough to eat.
The cornmeal crust was a lot lighter than expected. You might expect the deep-​dish pizza to be like a brick, but it was very light and crispy. The manager on duty came by and asked how our food was, and I told him just that. He was very pleased and later paid for my wife’s mimosa «to get us to come back next time».
Yes, the pizza took 25 minutes to cook. Our server told us that when we ordered, and anyone who loves deep dish pizza knows this in advance as well. Their beer and drink selection were good, so have a drink and an appetizer and the pizza will be out before you know it, and it will be worth the wait.
I noticed if you sit at the bar, there are electrical outlets to plug in your device, and a coat hook to hang your coat. Nice attention to little details that make customers happy!
My original thought for this review was going to be just this: Pi Pizzeria=YUM.

Cornmeal crust something different in town! We went on a Saturday night and didn’t have to wait too long for a table. Our server was very nice and on top of things. I noticed they had a great beer selection including on tap options.
I tried the Lincoln Park– thin crispy crust, feta, tomato, basil, and zucchini. Very light and delicious! I also tried the Kirkwood deep dish which was very filling with the meatballs and the crust was still crispy and good.
I will have to go back and try a few apps and beers. Overall, nice addition to downtown!

To me, it’s pretty hard to mess up a decent pizza. but deep dish pizza is what I am more selective about just because I prefer pizza crust to be crispy. I’ve had a few deep dish places in Chicago that I liked where the crust is made from cornmeal and I was excited to see that Pi made their crusts similarly, so I decided to give it a try with some friends last weekend.
I had a small deep dish pizza, half Bucktown and half Berkeley. both excellent choices! The ingredients were all super fresh and the fresh garlic really shined through with the cheese. the tomato sauce also tasted freshly made and was great. My friends had the Central West End/​Maplewood on thin crust. I typically like thin crust better in general, but here at Pi I actually preferred the deep dish crust! I also had a side of the spicy pickles. pretty darn spicy but I looooved them.
A small deep dish OR a large thin crust could easily be shared between two people. The prices are to be expected for being downtown and it is pretty filling, so paired with the great quality of ingredients I would say it is def worth the price and I’ll def come back.

Pizza is a hard subject to rate. Everybody has their own opinions about all kinds of crust and thousands of toppings. For me, this place was great.
I like thin crust pizza and so My br and I did a half and half with central west end and maplewood.
It was crispy and simply delicious. We liked central west more. Maplewood had too much going on and flavors were overpowering each other.
Cincinnati doesn’t have too many places that serve good deep dish and if you are craving for something hot and delicious in the winter, Pi does a good job. And their crusts are corn based so those are quite crispy too.
I don’t think Pi is overly expensive compares to a few restaurants on otr. A large 20 some dollar pizza is enough for two and the atmosphere was quite and chill.
Overall I enjoyed my time there and oh, street parking.

Experience was decent. Not the best pizza ever but it was pretty good!
Ordered some garlic bread and a salad. The garlic bread was good. A lot of garlic though, I think I could scare away a vampire hours after dinner. I had the simple salad, it was good. Very light on the dressing but it was still good.
Decided on trying the Maplewood pizza, it was pretty good. On the greasy side but the flavors were all good. Crust was perfect, really liked the sauce and sausage. Cheese was alright, didn’t love it but didn’t hate it either.
This is a little on the pricey side. I went with 2 friends. We split the large pizza, garlic bread, beer cheese soup (they split it — so I have no review on that), salad and Coke to drink. It was $ 60 after tip.

Although I’ve had a lifelong aversion to math, I have always loved pizza, so there was a natural conflict that had kept me from eating at Pi for the first year & a half of my time living in the Cincinnati area. That ended this afternoon when I went with a group of people for lunch during work. It was pouring rain outside & while 6 of us arrived at noon, we still managed a table right away, despite the restaurant being fairly busy. We were attended to quickly by a waitress & a trainee equally fast & served water, while we took a look at our menus, which came with some «express» items, which I guess are already half-​made pizzas designed to be served faster for the lunch rush.
I do not abide express pizza. I like my pizza as I do my suits — custom made. So, I had to wait a bit longer, but not like Gino’s East in Chicago long, perhaps 20 minutes. I ordered a small deep dish pizza with roasted chicken & fresh mozzarella pearls & while I put it away myself, it was a struggle I would not recommend. You can certainly get a takeout container, or spilt it between two people, or if you’re like me, punish yourself by running a 10k later tonight & eating nothing but carrot sticks & water for the rest of the day while you reflect on your bad decisions, like how you wound up in Cincinnati & why you’re eating so much food.
Anyway, the service was fast & friendly — they checked on us repeatedly & they offer free refills on the soft drinks. The cornmeal crust was different & provided an interesting texture that might take some getting used to.
I’ll be going back. Either on an emptier stomach or when I’m down on myself & feel like eating a lot.

We had a good experience at Pi Pizzeria. Decided to come here for dinner after indulging in some downtown Cinci happy hours and I am glad we did! Being a Thursday night, it wasn’t too busy and we were in and out with a nice meal like we were hoping for.
We walked in to the quiet corner spot and were greeted by the hostess. Our server was very nice and friendly but not over the top. The manager stopped by to check up on our meal and was circulating the restaurant the whole time. Seemed to care. Held the door for us when we walked out.
We both ordered local beers which were super good. We split a large thin crust Maplewood pizza (spicy sausage, mozzarella, cherry peppers, fontina, basil) and it was great. The crust was the star of the show as it was perfectly buttered and flavored to pizza– perfection.
Only two sizes: small and large. The small size would have been too small but the large too big unless you are starving and/​or hypoglycemic. Husband isn’t complaining as he took home leftovers to eat circa midnight.

I found this place by luck via Unilocal and am so glad I did.
I don’t think it’s the prettiest place. The pi idea is cool. But it’s not really utilized. The décor is dark. Black and grey, actually. And I’m not really one to mention décor much. A little red. Checkered napkins are a cute touch. But, so what? Onward!
Our waiter was the best. He was funny and cute and helpful. Patient and listened to my food needs and my friend’s many food questions. Cornmeal in pizza crust. An interesting idea. They have Daiya cheese! Vegan cheese! And goat cheese! And, a novelty for meat lovers, goetta. Turns out, a deep dish pizza uses butter in the crust. A regular pizza does not. Thank goodness. We placed our complicated order (they do half and half pizzas) and waited. It didn’t seem long before a woman came out to apologize that our pizza had been messed up and they had to start over. I suppose we’re patient people because it didn’t seem long at all before it was there.
The pizza! Thin, crackling, textured. The sauce, good. The cheese and toppings good. Delicious. I like a thinner crust. I understand not everyone does. To me, this was perfection. A new favorite. Amazing. I might switch my toppings next time. But that crust. My friend didn’t feel the same. He got sausage and felt it was too delicate a flavor for the pizza. It seemed to me he also had a lot of other toppings, but, what do I know? I don’t eat sausage or the things he was eating. I would eat it every day if I could. My friend said he would try it again but only deep dish and with different toppings. A large regular crust was good for two regular sized people. I didn’t eat all mine. He ate his.
As for the bill, when it came, they told us it was taken care of, and, to our surprise and delight, it was. So, we tipped pretty well because of the excellent service and great experience. (Their music was excellent. They played The Gaslight Anthem.) I hope they open a restaurant further north. I’d love to be able to eat some Pi without going Downtown!
Oh, of course they have real pie, too.